I love vegetable gardens. I am not an expert but with a little bit of research and creativity, I continually craft different types of gardening spaces in my yard, each one unique. Aesthetically it adds so much to the landscape. For the last few years I have had my garden on the side of my front yard and it became the neighborhood destination. If I ever didn’t have my scarecrow up, the neighbors would complain. An older man once came up to me when I was out working in the garden and told me he liked to come by each year and see how she (yes my scarecrow is a woman) was dressed. So if you think that you don’t have the space for a garden, don’t be afraid of the front yard if there is a way to make it quaint and beautiful. I like to use all the spaces on my property. Even an unused side yard with good sun can be transformed into a little farm. 

After years of gardening and trying different things, there are a few useful tips that have always proven to work. Keeping it tidy and uniformed is a must – DO NOT let it get tady and full of weeds. I like to make my garden useful but also kind of artistic. Using trellises and teepees get things growing up which adds an artistic flair. And last, I like to over plant, so it is lush and full.

A great resource I have found is www.growveg.com. They offer a 30-day free trial of their Garden Planning Tool. It’s so easy – from creating a plan to how much to buy and even reminder emails (just in case you forget to tend to your garden), it’s all included. It’s really great.

Whatever the landscape of your yard, you can find ways to work with it. The front yard garden had a bit of a slope, so I could not do raised beds. Instead I dug trenches and mounds of dirt for the vegetables. The idea is to get 18‛ of loose soil for the roots to spread. This trenching took me a while, but it was worth it – it really took off. Growing the veggies up on teepees is very helpful as it gives you more space (and looks beautiful). I did several different veggies this way, but I loved the sugar baby pumpkins. They really become works of art. It helps keeping all the foliage off the ground to avoid pests and diseases too.